Method for reporting user equipment assistance information reporting, user equipment, and base station

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a method for reporting user equipment assistance information, a user equipment, and a base station. The method includes: if a configuration in a user equipment UE for forbidding sending UE assistance information is not started or is closed, sending, by the UE, the UE assistance information to a base station; or, if a configuration in a UE for allowing sending UE assistance information is started, sending, by the UE, the UE assistance information to a base station. The foregoing method does not increase a signaling overhead of an air interface, and meanwhile, enables abase station to better optimize performance of a UE according to UE assistance information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Patent ApplicationNo. PCT/CN2012/077331, filed on Jun. 21, 2012, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate to communicationstechnologies, and in particular, to a method for reporting userequipment assistance information, a user equipment, and a base station.

BACKGROUND

In a discussion about an enhancement on diverse data applications workitem (EDDA WI) standard in the 3rd generation partnership project(3GPP), it is mentioned that a user equipment (UE) may provide some UEassistance information of a background service or an instant message(IM) as reference for a network device.

However, there is no clear and unified understanding so far about whichUE assistance information needs to be reported, how to trigger thereporting of the UE assistance information, and after receiving the UEassistance information, how a network side performs optimization, andthe like.

Currently, a trigger mechanism for sending the UE assistance informationis not clear, resulting in problems that the UE may continuously reportthe UE assistance information to a base station, which easily increasesa signaling overhead of an air interface, and the UE assistanceinformation cannot be better applied by the base station.

SUMMARY

In view of this, the present invention provides a method for reportinguser equipment assistance information, a user equipment, and a basestation, which are used to save a signaling overhead of an airinterface, and meanwhile, enable a base station to better optimizeperformance of a UE according to UE assistance information.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides amethod for reporting user equipment assistance information, including:

-   -   if a configuration in a UE for forbidding sending UE assistance        information is not started or is closed, sending, by the UE, the        UE assistance information to a base station;    -   or,    -   if a configuration in a UE for allowing sending UE assistance        information is started, sending, by the UE, the UE assistance        information to a base station.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides amethod for reporting user equipment assistance information, including:

-   -   receiving UE assistance information sent by a UE when a        configuration of the UE for forbidding sending the UE assistance        information is not started or is closed;    -   or,    -   receiving UE assistance information sent by a UE when a        configuration of the UE for allowing sending the UE assistance        information is started.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides auser equipment, including:

-   -   a determining unit, configured to: if determining that a        configuration in the UE for forbidding sending UE assistance        information is not started or is closed, transmit, to a sending        unit, an instruction for sending the UE assistance information;        or if determining that a configuration in the UE for allowing        sending UE assistance information is started, transmit, to a        sending unit, an instruction for sending the UE assistance        information; and    -   the sending unit, configured to send the UE assistance        information to a base station when receiving the instruction        which is transmitted by the determining unit and is for sending        the UE assistance information.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides abase station, including:

-   -   a receiving unit, configured to receive UE assistance        information sent by a UE when a configuration of the UE for        forbidding sending the UE assistance information is not started        or is closed;    -   or, configured to receive UE assistance information sent by a UE        when a configuration of the UE for allowing sending the UE        assistance information is started.

It can be known from the foregoing technical solutions that, in themethod for reporting user equipment assistance information, the userequipment, and the base station according to the embodiments of thepresent invention, if the configuration in the UE for forbidding sendingthe UE assistance information is not started or is closed, the UE sendsthe UE assistance information to the base station; or, if theconfiguration in the UE for allowing sending the UE assistanceinformation is started, the UE sends the UE assistance information tothe base station, so that the UE may regularly report the UE assistanceinformation, thereby reducing the signaling overhead of the airinterface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

To describe the technical solutions of the present invention moreclearly, the following briefly introduces accompanying drawings requiredfor describing the embodiments. Apparently, the accompanying drawings inthe following description show merely some embodiments of the presentinvention, and persons of ordinary skill in the art may still deriveother drawings according to these accompanying drawings without creativeefforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic flow chart of a method for reporting userequipment assistance information provided in an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a method for reporting userequipment assistance information provided in another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a method for reporting userequipment assistance information provided in another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic flow chart of a method for reporting userequipment assistance information provided in another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a method for reporting userequipment assistance information provided in another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a method for reporting userequipment assistance information provided in another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic flow chart of a method for reporting userequipment assistance information provided in another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a user equipment provided inanother embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station provided inanother embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages ofthe present invention clearer, the technical solutions of the presentinvention are described clearly and fully in the following withreference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the presentinvention. Obviously, the following embodiments are merely part of theembodiments of the present invention. Based on the following embodimentsof the present invention, persons of ordinary skill in the art may alsoobtain other embodiments which can solve problems in the presentinvention and achieve technical effects of the present invention byequivalently transforming part and even all of technical features eventhough without making creative effects, and the embodiments obtainedthrough transformation obviously do not depart from the scope disclosedin the present invention.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for reportinguser equipment assistance information, where the method includes: if aconfiguration in a UE for forbidding sending UE assistance informationis not started or is closed, sending, by the UE, the UE assistanceinformation to a base station; or, if a configuration in a UE forallowing sending UE assistance information is started, sending, by theUE, the UE assistance information to a base station, so that the basestation optimizes performance of the UE according to the UE assistanceinformation. The foregoing method enables the UE to regularly report theUE assistance information, thereby reducing a signaling overhead of anair interface.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic flow chart of a method for reporting userequipment assistance information provided in an embodiment of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the method for reporting userequipment assistance information in this embodiment is described asfollows.

101: If a configuration in a UE for forbidding sending UE assistanceinformation is not started or is closed, the UE sends the UE assistanceinformation to a base station; or, if a configuration in a UE forallowing sending UE assistance information is started, the UE sends theUE assistance information to a base station.

For example, the foregoing UE assistance information may be one or morepieces of the following information:

-   -   a power saving preference of the UE, a performance preference of        the UE, a service feature of the UE, a moving speed of the UE,        and a parameter indicating the moving speed of the UE, and the        like, where the parameter indicating the moving speed of the UE        is, for example, a variation of reference signal received power        (RSRP) of the UE in a certain time, a variation of a path loss,        or a variation of an observed time difference of arrival        ((JTDOA, and used for reflecting a time difference between        downlink signal receiving time of different cells) of different        cells, or the like; specific content of the UE assistance        information is not limited in this embodiment.

In actual application, the foregoing UE assistance information may besent by using a radio resource control (RRC) message or a media accesscontrol (MAC) layer message. The MAC layer message may use a MAC CE (MACControl Elements), or may also use a reserved bit in a MAC PDU header.

When the UE assistance information is sent by using an RRC message, anew information element (IE) may be defined and carried in an existingRRC message such as a measurement report message, and the measurementreport message carrying the UE assistance information may be furthersent to the base station.

In another embodiment, a new IE may be defined and carried in anexisting RRC message such as a radio resource control connectionreconfiguration complete message or carried in another uplink RRCmessage and sent to the base station. After receiving the RRC message,the base station obtains the IE by parsing the RRC message, and furtheroptimizes the UE according to the IE obtained by parsing. Particularly,the RRC message herein may also be borne on a dedicated radio bearerestablished between the base station and the UE.

Further, a new RRC message may be further defined, and the new RRCmessage is used to perform the reporting.

When the MAC CE message is used to send the UE assistance information,anew logical channel identity (LCID) needs to be defined to indicate theUE assistance information, for example, one of currently reserved values01011-11000 or a reserved bit in an existing message is used to send theUE assistance information, and then the foregoing UE assistanceinformation can be sent to the base station.

102: When a first condition is met, start the configuration forforbidding sending the UE assistance information or close theconfiguration for allowing sending the UE assistance information; andwhen a second condition is met, close the started configuration forforbidding sending the UE assistance information or start theconfiguration for allowing sending the UE assistance information.

For example, the first condition is one or more of the followingconditions:

-   -   the UE receives a message which is sent by the base station and        is used for starting the configuration for forbidding sending        the UE assistance information or used for closing the        configuration for allowing sending the UE assistance        information; and    -   a duration after the UE assistance information is sent to the        base station reaches a preset duration, where the preset        duration may be 0 or any other value such as 1s and 5s, that is,        after the UE assistance information is sent to the base station,        the configuration for forbidding sending the UE assistance        information may be started; and certainly, the preset duration        herein may also be a default value and the like.

The second condition is one or more of conditions listed in thefollowing (1) to (7):

(1) The UE receives an RRC reconfiguration message sent by the basestation.

(2) The UE receives a reconfiguration message which is sent by the basestation and includes a discontinuous reception (DRX) parameter.

(3) A DRX cycle in the DRX parameter included in the reconfigurationmessage which is sent by the base station and received by the UE reachesa pre-configured DRX cycle or reaches an idle status DRX cycle. The DRXcycle in the current reconfiguration message may be a long DRX cycle ora short DRX cycle. The idle status DRX cycle refers to a DRX cycle usedby the UE in an idle status, and the idle status DRX cycle is usually asmaller one between a DRX cycle which is notified by the UE to an MMEand is used by the UE and a cell level DRX cycle broadcast by the basestation. Certainly, the cycle may also be defined as the DRX cycle whichis notified by the UE to the MME and is used by the UE, or the celllevel DRX cycle broadcast by the base station. The pre-configured DRXcycle may be a DRX cycle fixedly configured according to a protocol, ormay also be a DRX cycle configured by the base station through abroadcasting message or a dedicated message.

(4) The UE receives an instruction which is sent by the base station andis for acquiring the UE assistance information, or the UE receives aninstruction which is sent by the base station and is for again acquiringthe UE assistance information.

(5) A duration in which the configuration for forbidding sending the UEassistance information is started reaches a preset threshold, or aduration in which the configuration for allowing sending the UEassistance information is closed reaches a preset threshold. The presetthreshold may be 10 seconds, 60 seconds, or the like, which is set bythe UE according to actual requirements.

(6) The UE changes an RRC connection status.

(7) Content of the UE assistance information is changed (for example,assistance information of the power saving preference of the UE isreplaced with assistance information of the moving speed of the UE).

In actual application, a configuration for forbidding sending the UEassistance information may be set in the foregoing UE, or aconfiguration for allowing sending the UE assistance information is setin the UE. Which configuration is set in the UE is not limited in thisembodiment.

Therefore, if the configuration in the UE for forbidding sending the UEassistance information is not started or is closed, the UE assistanceinformation is sent to the base station. Correspondingly, when the firstcondition is met, the configuration for forbidding sending the UEassistance information is started, and when the second condition is met,the started configuration for forbidding sending the UE assistanceinformation is closed.

In another embodiment, if the configuration in the UE for allowingsending the UE assistance information is started, the UE assistanceinformation is sent to the base station. Correspondingly, when the firstcondition is met, the configuration for allowing sending the UEassistance information is closed, and when the second condition is met,the configuration for allowing sending the UE assistance information isstarted.

The foregoing UE assistance information reporting method can enable theUE to regularly report the UE assistance information, thereby reducing asignaling overhead of an air interface.

In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, before the UE assistanceinformation is sent to the base station in step 101, the foregoingmethod for reporting user equipment assistance information may furtherinclude the following step 100.

100: The UE receives a first message sent by the base station, where thefirst message is used for notifying the UE of UE assistance informationsupported by the base station.

Preferably, the UE receives the first message sent by the base stationin a broadcast manner.

Further, the first message may further include one or more pieces of thefollowing information: (1) information of a radio bearer (RB) where theUE assistance information is located; and (2) attribute information ofthe UE assistance information, a sending forbidden mechanism, andinformation of a dedicated RB where the UE assistance information islocated, and the like. For example, the attribute information of the UEassistance information may include that a sending priority of the UEassistance information is lower than a sending priority of data, and theUE assistance information does not trigger a buffer status report (BSR),a scheduling request (SR), or the like. When the UE sends data by usingan uplink resource, the BSR is used for notifying the base station of anamount of data in the UE which may be sent, so that the base stationallocates an uplink resource for the UE for data sending. Usually, theBSR is triggered when new data or data with a higher priority reaches apacket data convergence protocol (PDCP) entity or a radio link control(RLC) entity of the UE and can be sent; in this case, if the UE does nothave an uplink resource used for sending the BSR, the SR is triggered torequest the base station to allocate an uplink resource. In anothermanner of triggering the BSR, there is still a remaining resource aftercurrent uplink resources transmit uplink data, a padding BSR may betriggered, where the BSR may notify the base station how much data inthe UE remains to be transmitted, so as to assist the base station withsubsequent resource allocation.

That is to say, the base station may notify the UE of the UE assistanceinformation supported by the base station. Only when the base stationsupports the UE assistance information, the UE assistance informationmay be used to optimize a network or the UE, and the UE is furtherallowed to report the UE assistance information.

In actual application, a UE which does not support the UE assistanceinformation neglects the foregoing first message notified by the basestation. In addition, if a specific embodiment includes the foregoingstep 100 shown in FIG. 2, in this case, if the UE does not receive theforegoing first message, the UE does not send the UE assistanceinformation to the base station even if the configuration of the UE forforbidding sending the UE assistance information is not started or theconfiguration of the UE for allowing sending the UE assistanceinformation is started.

In another embodiment, the base station may further carry the foregoinginformation used for notifying the UE of the UE assistance informationsupported by the base station in another message sent to the UE, andthis embodiment is merely an example for description.

In another application scenario, as shown in FIG. 3, before the UEassistance information is sent to the base station in step 101, theforegoing method for reporting user equipment assistance information mayfurther include the following step 100 a.

100 a: The UE sends a second message to the base station, where thesecond message is used for notifying assistance information supported bythe UE.

For example, the UE notifies the base station that the UE supports theassistance information of the power saving preference of the UE.

It can be understood that, that the UE reports the supported UEassistance information to the base station may specifically be that theUE directly reports the supported UE assistance information to the basestation, or reports the supported UE assistance information to a mobilemanagement entity (MME), and then the MME notifies the base station ofthe UE assistance information supported by the UE.

For example, the UE may report the supported UE assistance informationto the MME during attachment, and subsequently, does not report again.

Or, the UE reports the supported UE assistance information each time theUE enters an RRC connection status, or the UE reports the supported UEassistance information to the MME when the UE assistance informationsupported by the UE is changed. A manner for the UE to report thesupported UE assistance information to a network side is not limited inthis embodiment.

Preferably, if the UE also supports the UE assistance information andthe UE obtains the first message sent by the base station (that is, step100 and step 100 a in the description of the foregoing example may beincluded), UE assistance information which can be sent to the basestation may be negotiated and determined. After the UE meets the secondcondition in step 102 in FIG. 1, the UE is allowed to report the UEassistance information to the base station.

It can be known from the foregoing embodiment that the method forreporting user equipment assistance information in this embodimentenables the UE to regularly report the UE assistance information,thereby reducing the signaling overhead of the air interface, andfurther enables the base station to optimize performance of the UEaccording to the UE assistance information.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic flow chart of a method for reporting userequipment assistance information provided in another embodiment of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the method for reporting userequipment assistance information in this embodiment is described asfollows.

401: A UE starts an internal configuration for forbidding sending UEassistance information, sets a second condition for the internalconfiguration for forbidding sending the UE assistance information, andwhen the second condition is met, closes a configuration which isstarted in the UE and is for forbidding sending the UE assistanceinformation.

In this embodiment, before the second condition is met, the UE is notallowed to send the UE assistance information to abase station.

For example, the second condition may be that the UE receives a messagesent by the base station, such as an RRC reconfiguration message, aquery message, or any RRC message, or another message. In a specificembodiment, the message sent by the base station may further be areconfiguration message including a DRX parameter. For example, thereconfiguration message may include a DRX cycle, or a time length of atimer related to DRX, or the like. After receiving the foregoingreconfiguration message including the DRX parameter, the UE parses theforegoing reconfiguration message and acquires a related condition, forexample, a condition in which before the DRX cycle reaches an idlestatus DRX cycle, the UE may again report the UE assistance informationto the base station, and after the DRX cycle reaches the idle status DRXcycle, the UE cannot report the UE assistance information.

Certainly, the foregoing second condition may further be that the UEchanges an RRC connection status, for example, during a current RRCconnection status, the UE is merely allowed to report the UE assistanceinformation to the base station for once, and only when the RRCconnection status is changed, the foregoing configuration which isstarted in the UE and is for forbidding sending the UE assistanceinformation is closed.

In addition, the second condition may further be that only when contentof the UE assistance information is changed, the UE can again send theUE assistance information, for example, a power saving preference of theUE is changed. Or, only after the base station triggers the UE to reportthe UE assistance information, the UE can again report the UE assistanceinformation to the base station. For example, the base stationindicates, in the RRC message or a MAC layer message whether the UEassistance information is allowed to be (again) reported. The secondcondition in this embodiment is merely an example for description.

402: Send the UE assistance information to the base station by using anuplink resource.

In this embodiment, assistance information of the power savingpreference of the UE in the UE is in a triggered status, and in thiscase, when the configuration for forbidding sending the UE assistanceinformation is closed, the assistance information of the power savingpreference of the UE is sent to the base station through the uplinkresource.

Particularly, in the uplink resource, a sending priority of the UEassistance information is lower than a sending priority of data. Forexample, when the UE assistance information is sent through a MAC CE,the sending priority of the UE assistance information is lower thanpriorities of the RRC message and the data.

Certainly, in another embodiment, the sending priority of the UEassistance information is lower than a sending priority of a paddingbuffer status report (Padding BSR).

In actual application, the sending the UE assistance information to thebase station by using an uplink resource includes: when the uplinkresource can accommodate all data which can be transmitted and theuplink resource still can transmit the UE assistance information,sending the UE assistance information to the base station by using theuplink resource. That is to say, only all the data which can betransmitted is transmitted within a transmission time interval(Transmission Time Interval, TTI for short), the UE assistanceinformation can be sent.

In actual application, because the UE assistance information is usuallynot urgent, it is unnecessary to send the UE assistance information oncethe sending is triggered; otherwise, an additional signaling overheadand power overhead may occur. A preferable method may be:

-   -   establishing, by the base station, a dedicated radio bearer        (Radio Bearer, RB for short) used for bearing the foregoing        message carrying the UE assistance information, where the        dedicated RB may be a signaling radio bearer or a data radio        bearer.

Certainly, to prevent the UE from frequently sending the UE assistanceinformation through the foregoing RB, when there is the UE assistanceinformation on the bearer, the BSR is not triggered, for example, it isset that the dedicated RB does not belong to any logical channel group(LCG); or when there is the UE assistance information on the bearer, ascheduling request (SR) is not triggered, for example, a logical channelSR masking (logical channel scheduling request masking) attribute of theRB is set.

In another embodiment, the foregoing step 402 may also be that the UEreceives an instruction which is sent by the base station and is foracquiring the UE assistance information, and sends, according to theinstruction for acquiring the UE assistance information, the UEassistance information to the base station by using the uplink resource.

Further, in the instruction for acquiring the UE assistance information,the base station may further set some attributes for the UE assistanceinformation, for example, information of an RB where the UE assistanceinformation is located, a sending forbidden mechanism, an attribute ofmasking (such as BSR Masking or SR Masking), or another sendingattribute which indicates the UE assistance information and is differentfrom another RRC message. A specific setting method may be defined by aprotocol or configured by the base station. When the UE assistanceinformation needs to be sent, the UE assistance information may nottrigger the BSR or the SR according to the foregoing set attribute. Forexample, when the BSR Masking is true, the UE assistance informationdoes not trigger the BSR; or when the SR Masking is true, the UEassistance information does not trigger the SR.

It can be understood that the sending of the UE assistance informationmay be triggered based on UE implementation, or based on a configurationby the base station for the UE.

Certainly, a trigger mechanism in the UE for sending the UE assistanceinformation is based on the UE implementation in most cases. Forexample, a higher layer in the UE instructs the UE to send the messagecarrying the UE assistance information, where the higher layer of the UEmay be a non access stratum (NAS) of the UE.

Particularly, for the assistance information of the power savingpreference of the UE, different UEs may have different implementation,for example, some UEs determine, according to their respective remainingpower, whether to trigger the sending of the UE assistance information;some UEs may determine, according to activity of a user, whether totrigger the sending of the UE assistance information; some UEs maydetermine, according to ON or OFF of a screen of a terminal, whether totrigger the sending of the UE assistance information; and some UEs maydetermine, according to a situation of a currently operating service,whether to trigger the sending of the UE assistance information. Thisembodiment is merely an example for description.

The foregoing embodiment merely limits the sending of the UE assistanceinformation by the UE; persons skilled in the art may understand thatthe UE usually triggers the UE assistance information before sending theUE assistance information. How the UE triggers the sending of the UEassistance information is not limited in the embodiment of the presentinvention.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a method for reportinguser equipment assistance information includes: receiving UE assistanceinformation sent by a UE when a configuration of the UE for forbiddingsending the UE assistance information is not started or is closed; or,receiving UE assistance information sent by a UE when a configuration ofthe UE for allowing sending the UE assistance information is started.

Therefore, the foregoing method for reporting user equipment assistanceinformation enables the UE to regularly report the UE assistanceinformation, thereby effectively reducing a signaling overhead of an airinterface.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic flow chart of a method for reporting userequipment assistance information provided in an embodiment of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the method for reporting userequipment assistance information in this embodiment is described asfollows.

501: A base station receives UE assistance information sent by a UE whena configuration of the UE for forbidding sending the UE assistanceinformation is not started or is closed; or, receives UE assistanceinformation sent by a UE when a configuration of the UE for allowingsending the UE assistance information is started.

502: The base station sets an evaluation level for the UE according to asending feature of the UE assistance information.

It should be understood that the setting an evaluation level for the UEaccording to a sending feature of the UE assistance information ismerely an example for description herein, for example, the setting anevaluation level for the UE according to a sending feature of the UEassistance information may be: setting an evaluation level for the UEaccording to one or more of the following: whether content of the UEassistance information reported by the UE is reasonable, whether thenumber of times that the UE reports the UE assistance information isreasonable, and whether time at which the UE reports the UE assistanceinformation is reasonable, and the like. In actual application, the basestation may obtain, according to receiving time of the UE assistanceinformation, the time at which the UE reports the UE assistanceinformation. Certainly, in another embodiment, the evaluation level mayfurther be set for the UE according to implementation of the received UEassistance information.

For example, the base station determines, by using assistanceinformation reported by the UE in one or more times, whether theimplementation or feature of the UE is reasonable, and sets anevaluation level for the UE, for example, a first level: “good UEimplementation”, or a third level: “bad UE implementation”, and sendsthe evaluation level to an MME for storage at the right moment.

The right moment may be that the base station notifies the MME whendetecting that the UE is of “bad UE implementation” or “good UEimplementation”, or the base station notifies the MME when releasing anRRC connection; or reporting time for the base station is not limited.

The MME usually stores the evaluation level of the UE, and whendetecting that a capability (for example, a bandwidth supported by theUE) of the UE is changed, the MME may not store the information.

Further, the foregoing method may further include step 503 not shown inFIG. 5.

503: The base station sends information of the evaluation level set forthe UE to the MME, so that when the UE is switched to another basestation, the MME sends the evaluation level of the UE to a target basestation.

Certainly, when the UE again enters the RRC connection status, the MMEnotifies the base station of the “bad UE implementation” or “good UEimplementation”, so as to assist the base station to perform aconfiguration on the UE assistance information for the UE.

Or, when the UE is switched from a source base station to a target basestation, the source base station sends the foregoing evaluation level tothe target base station as reference for the target base station.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, before step 501, the method for reportinguser equipment assistance information further includes the followingstep 500.

500: The base station sends a first message to the UE, where the firstmessage is used for notifying the UE of UE assistance informationsupported by the base station.

Preferably, the base station sends the foregoing first message in abroadcast manner.

For example, the first message further includes information of an RBwhere the UE assistance information is located and/or attributeinformation of the UE assistance information, and the like.

Preferably, FIG. 6 further shows step 500 a included in the method forreporting user equipment assistance information.

500 a: The base station receives a second message sent by the UE, wherethe second message is used for notifying UE assistance informationsupported by the UE.

It can be known from the foregoing UE assistance information reportingmethod that, the UE first negotiates with the base station on mutuallysupported UE assistance information, so that the UE may regularly reportthe negotiated UE assistance information, thereby effectively reducing asignaling overhead of an air interface.

As shown in FIG. 7, FIG. 7 shows a schematic flow chart of a method forreporting user equipment assistance information provided in anembodiment of the present invention; and the method for reporting userequipment assistance information in this embodiment is described asfollows.

701: A base station receives UE assistance information sent by a UE whena configuration of the UE for forbidding sending the UE assistanceinformation is not started or is closed; or, receives UE assistanceinformation sent by a UE when a configuration of the UE for allowingsending the UE assistance information is started.

It should be noted that the base station may optimize performance of theUE according to the received UE assistance information herein, and howthe optimization is specifically performed depends on a capability ofthe base station. For example, the base station takes one or more of thefollowing factors into consideration: the UE assistance informationreported by the UE, a current network status, and an algorithm policy ofthe base station, and the like, to determine whether to optimize theperformance of the UE and how to perform the optimization.

702: The base station sends the UE a third message used for starting theconfiguration for forbidding sending the UE assistance information orused for closing the configuration for allowing sending the UEassistance information, so that according to the third message, the UEstarts the configuration for forbidding sending the UE assistanceinformation or closes the configuration for allowing sending the UEassistance information.

Further, the method for reporting user equipment assistance informationfurther includes step 703 not shown in FIG. 7.

703: The base station sends the UE a fourth message used for closing theconfiguration which is started by the UE and is for forbidding sendingthe UE assistance information or used for starting the configuration ofthe UE for allowing sending the UE assistance information.

For example, the fourth message may be an RRC reconfiguration message, areconfiguration message including a DRX parameter, or a message sent foracquiring the UE assistance information, or the like. Then, the basestation enables, by sending the foregoing third message or fourthmessage, the UE to regularly report the UE assistance information.

It can be known from the foregoing method for reporting user equipmentassistance information that, the foregoing UE may regularly report theassistance information, thereby effectively reducing a signalingoverhead of an air interface.

In another aspect of the present invention, the present inventionprovides a user equipment. As shown in FIG. 8, the user equipmentincludes a determining unit 81 and a sending unit 82, where

-   -   the determining unit 81 is configured to: if determining that a        configuration in the UE for forbidding sending UE assistance        information is not started or is closed, transmit, to the        sending unit 82, an instruction for sending the UE assistance        information; or if determining that a configuration in the UE        for allowing sending UE assistance information is started,        transmit, to the sending unit 82, an instruction for sending the        UE assistance information; and    -   the sending unit 82 is configured to send the UE assistance        information to abase station when receiving the instruction        which is transmitted by the determining unit 81 and is for        sending the UE assistance information.

The assistance information may be one or more pieces of the followinginformation:

-   -   a power saving preference of the UE, a performance preference of        the UE, a service feature of the UE, a moving speed of the UE,        and a parameter indicating the moving speed of the UE, and the        like.

Further, the user equipment in this embodiment further includes areceiving unit not shown in FIG. 8. The receiving unit is configured toreceive a first message sent by the base station, where the firstmessage is used for notifying the UE of UE assistance informationsupported by the base station. Certainly, in another embodiment, theforegoing first message may further include one or more pieces of thefollowing information: information of an RB where the UE assistanceinformation is located, attribute information of the UE assistanceinformation, and the like.

In actual application, the determining unit 81 is specificallyconfigured to: when a first condition is met, start the configurationfor forbidding sending the UE assistance information or close theconfiguration for allowing sending the UE assistance information; andwhen a second condition is met, close the started configuration forforbidding sending the UE assistance information or start theconfiguration for allowing sending the UE assistance information.

The first condition is one or more of the following conditions:

-   -   the receiving unit receives a message which is sent by the base        station and is used for starting the configuration for        forbidding sending the UE assistance information or used for        closing the configuration for allowing sending the UE assistance        information; and    -   a duration after the sending unit sends the UE assistance        information to the base station reaches a preset duration.

The second condition is one or more of the following conditions:

-   -   the receiving unit receives an RRC reconfiguration message sent        by the base station;    -   the receiving unit receives a reconfiguration message which is        sent by the base station and includes a DRX parameter;    -   a DRX cycle in the DRX parameter included in the reconfiguration        message which is sent by the base station and is received by the        receiving unit reaches a pre-configured DRX cycle or reaches an        idle status DRX cycle;    -   the receiving unit receives the instruction which is sent by the        base station and is for acquiring the UE assistance information;    -   a duration in which the configuration for forbidding sending the        UE assistance information is started reaches a preset threshold,        or a duration in which the configuration for allowing sending        the UE assistance information is closed reaches a preset        threshold;    -   the UE changes an RRC connection status; and content of the UE        assistance information is changed.

Correspondingly, the foregoing sending unit 82 is specificallyconfigured to: send the UE assistance information to the base station byusing an uplink resource; or when the receiving unit receives theinstruction which is sent by the base station and is for acquiring theUE assistance information, send, according to the instruction foracquiring the UE assistance information, the UE assistance informationto the base station by using an uplink resource. In actual application,if the uplink resource can accommodate all data which can be transmittedand the uplink resource still can transmit the UE assistanceinformation, the UE assistance information is sent to the base stationby using the uplink resource.

Further, the foregoing sending unit 82 is further configured to send asecond message to the base station, where the second message is used fornotifying UE assistance information supported by the UE.

The foregoing user equipment is configured to execute the foregoingmethod for reporting user equipment assistance information, and thisembodiment is merely used for simply describing an internal structure ofthe user equipment. For a specific principle, reference may be made tothe description in the foregoing method embodiments.

The foregoing user equipment may regularly report the UE assistanceinformation to the base station, thereby effectively reducing asignaling overhead of an air interface, and meanwhile, the base stationmay optimize performance of the UE according to the UE assistanceinformation.

In another aspect of the present invention, the present inventionprovides a base station, which includes a receiving unit 91, where thereceiving unit 91 is configured to receive UE assistance informationsent by a UE when a configuration of the UE for forbidding sending theUE assistance information is not started or is closed; or, receive UEassistance information sent by a UE when a configuration of the UE forallowing sending the UE assistance information is started.

In actual application, the foregoing base station further includes asending unit 92, as shown in FIG. 9. The sending unit is configured tosend a first message to the UE, where the first message is used fornotifying the UE of UE assistance information supported by the basestation.

Preferably, the foregoing sending unit 92 is further configured to senda third message or a fourth message to the UE, for example, is furtherconfigured to send the UE the third message used for starting theconfiguration for forbidding sending the UE assistance information orused for closing the configuration for allowing sending the UEassistance information, so that according to the third message, the UEstarts the configuration for forbidding sending the UE assistanceinformation or closes the configuration for allowing sending the UEassistance information.

Or, the sending unit 92 is further configured to send the UE the fourthmessage used for closing the configuration which is started by the UEand is for forbidding sending the UE assistance information or used forstarting the configuration of the UE for allowing sending the UEassistance information, where the fourth message may be an RRCreconfiguration message, a reconfiguration message including a DRXparameter, or a message sent for acquiring the UE assistanceinformation, or the like.

Further, the base station further includes a setting unit 93, where thesetting unit 93 sets an evaluation level for the UE according to asending feature of the UE assistance information.

The base station is configured to execute the foregoing method forreporting user equipment assistance information, and this embodiment ismerely used for simply describing an internal structure of the basestation. For a specific principle, reference may be made to thedescription in the foregoing method embodiments.

The foregoing base station may optimize the UE according to assistanceinformation regularly reported by the UE, thereby effectively reducing asignaling overhead of an air interface.

It should be noted that the base station in this embodiment is abroadconcept, which may be a base transceiver station, abase stationcontroller, a NodeB, an eNodeB, or a radio network controller (RNC), orthe like, which is not limited in this embodiment and is set accordingto actual requirements.

It should be noted that, in the foregoing embodiments of the userequipment and the base station, dividing of the functional units ismerely an example for description. In actual application, the foregoingfunctions may be allocated to and completed by different functionalunits according to requirements, for example, in consideration ofconfiguration requirements of corresponding hardware and convenience ofimplementation of software, that is, internal structures of the userequipment and the base station are divided into different functionalunits to implement all or part of functions described above. Inaddition, in actual application, corresponding functional units in theembodiments may be implemented by corresponding hardware, or may also beimplemented by corresponding hardware executing corresponding software.For example, the foregoing sending unit may be hardware with a functionof the foregoing sending unit, for example, a transmitter, or may alsobe a general processor or another hardware device capable of executing acorresponding computer program to implement the foregoing functions. Foranother example, the foregoing determining unit may be hardware capableof executing a function of the determining unit, for example, aprocessor, or may also be another hardware device capable of executing acorresponding computer program to implement the foregoing functions. Forstill another example, the foregoing receiving unit may be hardwarecapable of executing a function of the foregoing receiving unit, forexample, a receiver, or may also be a general processor or anotherhardware device capable of executing a corresponding software program toimplement the foregoing functions. (All the embodiments provided in thespecification may apply the principle described above)

In another aspect of the present invention, the present inventionprovides a communications system, which includes the user equipment inthe foregoing embodiment and the base station in the foregoingembodiment.

For structures and functions of the user equipment and the base station,reference may be made to the foregoing embodiment of the user equipmentand the foregoing embodiment of the base station.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art may understand that, all or a partof the steps of the foregoing method embodiments may be implemented by aprogram instructing relevant hardware. The foregoing program may bestored in a computer readable storage medium. When the program runs, thesteps of the foregoing method embodiments are performed. The foregoingstorage medium includes various mediums capable of storing programcodes, such as a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

Finally, it should be noted that the foregoing embodiments are merelyintended for describing the technical solutions of the present inventionother than limiting the present invention. Although the presentinvention is described in detail with reference to the foregoingembodiments, persons of ordinary skill in the art should understand thatthey may still make modifications to the technical solutions describedin the foregoing embodiments, or make equivalent replacements to part orall of the technical features of the technical solutions described inthe foregoing embodiments; however, these modifications or replacementsdo not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions departfrom the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of thepresent invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for reporting user equipment assistanceinformation, comprising: determining, by a user equipment (UE), aconfiguration in the UE for forbidding sending UE assistance informationis not started or is closed; and sending, by the UE, the UE assistanceinformation to a base station, wherein the UE assistance information isone or more pieces of the following information: a power savingpreference of the UE; a performance preference of the UE.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising: when a first condition is met,starting the configuration for forbidding sending the UE assistanceinformation, wherein the first condition is the UE assistanceinformation is sent to the base station.
 3. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the UE assistance information is the performancepreference of the UE, when a first condition is met, starting theconfiguration for forbidding sending the performance preference of theUE, wherein the first condition is the performance preference of the UEis sent to the base station; and when the UE assistance information ischanged into the power saving preference of the UE from the performancepreference of the UE, closing the started configuration for forbiddingsending the performance preference of the UE.
 4. The method according toclaim 1, wherein when a first condition is met, starting theconfiguration for forbidding sending the power saving preference of theUE, wherein the first condition is the performance preference of the UEis sent to the base station; and when a second condition is met, closingthe started configuration for forbidding sending the power savingpreference of the UE, wherein the second condition is the startedconfiguration for forbidding sending the power saving preference of theUE reaches a preset threshold.
 5. The method according to claim 1,wherein the UE assistance information is carried in a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) message.
 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein theRRC message is borne on a dedicated radio bearer established between thebase station and the UE.
 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein thededicated radio bearer is a signaling radio bearer or a data radiobearer.
 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein a sending priorityof the UE assistance information is lower than a sending priority ofdata; or a sending priority of the UE assistance information is lowerthan a sending priority of a padding buffer status report Padding (BSR).9. The method according to claim 1, wherein before the step of sending,by the UE, the UE assistance information to a base station, the methodfurther comprises: receiving a first message sent by the base station,wherein the first message is used for notifying the UE of UE assistanceinformation supported by the base station.
 10. The method according toclaim 1, wherein before the step of sending, by the UE, the UEassistance information to a base station, the method further comprises:sending, by the UE, a second message to the base station, wherein thesecond message is used for notifying UE assistance information supportedby the UE.
 11. A user equipment, comprising: a processor, configured to:determine that a configuration in the user equipment (UE) for forbiddingsending UE assistance information is not started or is closed, control atransmitter to send the UE assistance information; and the transmitter,configured to send the UE assistance information to a base station underthe control of the processor, wherein the UE assistance information isone or more pieces of the following information: a power savingpreference of the UE; a performance preference of the UE.
 12. The userequipment according to claim 11, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: when a first condition is met, start the configurationfor forbidding sending the UE assistance information, wherein the firstcondition is the UE assistance information is sent to the base station.13. The user equipment according to claim 11, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: if the UE assistance information is theperformance preference of the UE, when a first condition is met, startthe configuration for forbidding sending the performance preference ofthe UE, wherein the first condition is the performance preference of theUE is sent to the base station; and when the UE assistance informationis changed into the power saving preference of the UE from theperformance preference of the UE, close the started configuration forforbidding sending the performance preference of the UE.
 14. The userequipment according to claim 11, wherein the process is furtherconfigured to: when a first condition is met, start the configurationfor forbidding sending the power saving preference of the UE, whereinthe first condition is the performance preference of the UE is sent tothe base station; and when a second condition is met, close the startedconfiguration for forbidding sending the power saving preference of theUE, wherein the second condition is the started configuration forforbidding sending the power saving preference of the UE reaches apreset threshold.
 15. The user equipment according to claim 11, whereinthe transmitter is further configured to send the UE assistanceinformation to the base station by carrying in a radio resource control(RRC) message.
 16. The user equipment according to claim 15, wherein theRRC message is borne on a dedicated radio bearer established between thebase station and the UE.
 17. The user equipment according to claim 16,wherein the dedicated radio bearer is a signaling radio bearer or a dataradio bearer.
 18. The user equipment according to claim 11, wherein asending priority of the UE assistance information is lower than asending priority of data; or a sending priority of the UE assistanceinformation is lower than a sending priority of a padding buffer statusreport Padding (BSR).
 19. The user equipment according to claim 11,wherein before the step of sending, by the UE, the UE assistanceinformation to a base station, the method further comprises: receiving afirst message sent by the base station, wherein the first message isused for notifying the UE of UE assistance information supported by thebase station.
 20. The user equipment according to claim 11, whereinbefore the step of sending, by the UE, the UE assistance information toa base station, the method further comprises: sending, by the UE, asecond message to the base station, wherein the second message is usedfor notifying UE assistance information supported by the UE.